This will be true at 100% of all schools. If a kid gets a ‘lower than average’ score, they will be reluctant to submit the score.
I recommended to my S21 that he submit his score if it fell anywhere within that school’s 25-75 range.
Does anybody know if there was widespread cancellation of standardized tests in FL? I am curious about why they did not go TO. Were most high schoolers in FL able to take a SAT or ACT?
To add to the discussion on admissions in this crazy year, in his book, Selingo really drove home the point that colleges evaluate the school almost as closely as they evaluate the applicant. In a year with fewer test scores and grades based on online-learning, I wouldn’t be surprised if the school the applicant comes from carries additional weight.
@mamaedefamilia I am also wondering about the FL schools. My OOS D applied to 2 schools in FL and has been able to take 2 ACT tests, does not plan to take any more. I was watching a virtual Q/A session from a FL public yesterday and I gathered that it is all FL public universities require an ACT or SAT.
@GoldPenn I really hope that is not the case this year.
@GoldPenn, what about applicants that busted their butts to get test scores precisely BECAUSE they didn’t come from the most rigorous schools in the world? Did Selingo address that? Not so long ago schools were actually talking about adding points for kids coming from low SES areas to try to level the playing field…looks like that’s totally out of the window. While I was never sure whether that was a good idea, the situation now is just so crappy, excuse my language.
Selingo wrote an article in the Washington Post about this very topic last month. Said with less information to go on (test scores, EC’s, volunteer work, etc.) the schools will fall back on good grades and rigor from high schools they know well, and whose students tend to accept offers when given.
@AlwaysMoving that’s so interesting. Thanks for posting. I speculated a long time ago on the thread that they would sort applicants in buckets for comparison. It makes sense that they would group them by time required to review and quality-certainty.
I agree that school may be important this year since if you don’t have a test score to reinforce the grades, they can rely on known feeder schools who deliver applicants who have proven successful at their college in the past. This doesn’t help our S since it’s a small school without big connections. If I remember correctly, Selingo wrote about how in the shaping round at privates, applicants were grouped by geographic region and then sometimes by school.
Today on a podcast I heard about a yield protection game some private schools play of waitlisting perfectly good, qualified candidates who they suspect might not accept. 
Then they check with the student about whether they want to stay on the list. This way, they look more selective and don’t waste a space on a kid who will just ultimately choose another school because the waitlister school wasn’t their first choice. U of Chicago was mentioned in particular but makes me wonder if S will apply or has applied to any of these. Anyone with older kids have this experience?
The colleges still need some data to calibrate the student.
The standardized test is just one of them, if you don’t have that, but have other things, that should be fine. But if there is nothing, I guess it won’t work.
It wouldn’t help all students, but I think colleges should consider allowing the hs to provide a pre-ACT or PSAT if it was administered at the school. Our HS administered the pre-ACT when my D was a sophomore. For her it was a good indicator of the 2 ACT tests she was able to take Feb 2020 and July 2020. For some students, it may be lower than what they feel they could have done on the ACT/PSAT, but if a student had a solid pre-ACT and wanted the HS to submit it, in the year of Covid 19, that seems like it would be a nice compromise.
While a lot of schools are strictly test optional, one school my daughter applied to required alternative materials - you had to submit either ACT/SAT scores or three AP/IB scores or a graded writing assignment.
@inthegarden I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’ve listened in on several webinars and always ask if a student has a score in the middle 50, but at the lower end of the range, will that still look favorable in their application, or should they go TO. Every single response was to send a score if it was within the middle 50. So that’s what we did, even if it was a super score that placed my D21 in the middle 50. I have hope that she’ll get into one of her top 5. Merit is a whole different story…
Yes. Vanderbilt does this at our high school. Waitlisted or denied everyone in RD after taking most in ED. You have to accept your spot on their waitlist of course. We know that eight kids from s19’s class took the waitlist spot and all got in and enrolled. Two of them flew down there right after taking the spot to meet with the AO, bring extra recommendations and say they will come if admitted. S19 did not take his waitlist spot there as we had never visited and he knew he already had other favorites.
I fear that D will get a good number of waitlists and those are so tricky. You only get a few days to decide if you’ll take the spot and, in most cases, you’ve already deposited somewhere else. Noting that this year we haven’t visited many schools, I don’t know which waitlist spots she would accept knowing that it would mean a last minute (and likely expensive) flight and a very quick 180 decision on where she’s going to school.
It was the Board of Governors that made the decision to require standardized testing, the universities were not in favor of it. One AO told my D21 that they realize the impact COVID has on students from a physical and emotional perspective. When they evaluate a student’s standardized test scores, they will take all of this into consideration. We translated that into the standardized test score, though required, will not carry as much weight as pre COVID.
@NateandAllisMom Re, yield protection and EA, Tulane does this routinely, and lately, at our school, Case Western. Most of the “top” kids are rejected or deferred, those with slightly lower stats get in. This is why demonstrated interest is a must!
Just read the Selingo article. Honestly, I have half a mind to discourage my D to even apply for the RD high match/reach schools on her list, especially those for which she hasn’t completed supplements. Why get her heart broken?
I’m just feeling a little bitter. I know I’m whining and I know we have it much better than a lot of people. I know D will get a fine education wherever she goes. It’s just the irony that my H, who grew up working-class in NYC was able to get himself to Bronx School of Science and on to elite STEM universities, then chose to live a quiet life teachIng under-served kids in an out-of-the-way community …and now I’m afraid our D may pay the price for this decision. OK, whine over.
@inthegarden I would discourage your D from giving up on her RD high match/reach schools if she still wants to apply. My D got into two of her biggest reaches RD last year and most of her high matches. I don’t think anyone can truly predict how admissions will go this year, not even Jeff Selingo.
@inthegarden , I hear you! And it’s not “whining” it’s just sharing.
This is such a stressful time. I was just thinking how a real pandemic is not at all like the movies. In the movies, the disease descends, there’s chaos in the streets, you fight for survival, and then after about 2 hours, the A-list stars save the day.
Instead, we’ve lived for eight months with a constant background of fear/anxiety, a million little (or large) losses, and many upended expectations. And we’ve done it all with reduced access to fun/renewing stuff like: socializing, favorite activities, travel, religious services, theater, sporting events etc. I think we should go easy on ourselves and vent when needed!
Also, I don’t think being from a relatively unknown, rural school will hurt your D21. Colleges really do want diversity—they don’t want all their students to come from suburban prep schools. Plus, your D won’t have to compete with an army of other kids from her high school. For example, about 70 kids from our high school apply to Cornell every year. It really sounds like your D is the type to bloom beautifully wherever she is planted, just like she has in her high school—even though it’s not Andover or Exeter or Bronx Science 
.
@inthegarden I agree with @3sailaway I suspect that your child with her less typical background is less likely to get lost in a sea of applicants from more competitive “known” schools. You may be pleasantly surprised. And maybe that ED school realizes that she’s the perfect fit and this stressful journey comes to a quick and satisfying conclusion. We all have our fingers crossed for your D!
@inthegarden I did hear someone else disagree with Selingo on this exact point. I think it MAY have been Clark from Georgia Tech but not 100% sure that was the guy. Anyway, you and I both hope he’s not entirely correct. Also, I know at our school there are a couple of “golden kids” with the crazy sports achievements plus the grades. I don’t think they are applying to the same schools as my S and I’m glad he is not being directly compared to them in particular.